V-day flower sales generate little profit

Valentines Day means hundreds of flower deliveries, but Silver Springs Floral and Delivery in downtown Albuquerque said the profits are slim.

Thia Smith owns the shop and said her extra overhead for the big day means more money leaving her store.

"We work really hard," Smith said. "We don't take in a lot of cash because we're paying a lot of overtime. We're paying for a lot of help to get in and get these flowers delivered."

Twelve drivers help deliver the flowers, and Smith said they each make at least $100 for the day's work.

Smith also rents a semi-truck trailer to house the flowers for delivery so they keep cool.

She said the business has been working for weeks to prepare for Thursday.

"The build-up actually starts in January, getting in some hard-good products. But the actual build-up has been lasting a week. We get the flowers. We process them. Get them in water and they need to be hardened enough in the cooler," she said.

Valentines Day provides Smith enough profits to hold her steady until Mothers Day when another big time for flower deliveries happen again.